Favorable US patent ruling for Newron

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) entered a judgement that the Italian firm Newron Pharmaceuticals should alone retain US patent claims to methods of treating pain, including neuropathic pain, using a class of chemical compounds that includes Newron's ralfinamide compound, which is currently in a Phase II trial for neuropathic pain.

On January 9, 2006, the USPTO declared an interference between US patent no 6,306,903, owned by Newron, and patent application no 10/429,764, an application to reissue patent no 6,479,484 owned by Purdue Neuroscience Co. The interference was declared to determine which of the two parties was first to invent certain commonly claimed subject matter, and should thus, under US patent laws, be permitted to retain patent claims to methods of treating pain, including neuropathic pain, using a class of alpha-aminoacetamide compounds.